The Third Relationship life and began to experiment with the environment. Manipulating its
cycles of life, they gathered and spread seeds, learning how to propagate
edible plants. They domesticated animals. As they harvested the fruits
of seeds they had sown, and the meat and milk from animals they had
raised, they changed their relationship with food.
This second food relationship—farming—was far from placid,
but it offered the first glimpses of stability. Through trial and error,
people cultivated and crossbred crops that produced higher yields,
fended off pests and disease, and became more resilient to swings in
temperature. Literally and figuratively, they put down roots. It took
two million years, until 180 , for the human population to surpass one
billion people. But as farmers became more proficient, the world’s
population doubled to two billion people in the next 12 years.
Step back for a moment in time to 1 . A new nation had declared
its independence from the British Empire. As America embarked on
its own path, two resolutions were brought before the Second Con-
tinental Congress that recommended aid for farmers. As Thomas Jef-
ferson later declared, “Agriculture is our wisest pursuit, because it will
in the end contribute most to real wealth, good morals, and happiness.”
In 1 90 , the inaugural census reported that 90 percent of the labor
force worked in farming. Those numbers would change quickly as the
first patent law spurred mechanical innovations in planting, harvesting,
processing, and preserving food. When the Civil War began seven
decades later, few expected it to last long. But improvements in farming
and processing meant more men could remain on the battlefield; fewer
were needed back home to grow food.The war raged on for four years.
In the midst of those years of carnage, the die was cast for what
would become our third relationship with food. With President Lin-
coln’s signature, land was made freely available to anyone willing to
homestead and farm it; states and the federal government established
a platform for agriculture education, science, and experimentation; a
national department of agriculture was created; and, paving the way
to later distribute food across the country, a transcontinental railroad
was built.
What Lincoln had set in motion cannot be understated. Though
America was still in its infancy, no other nation had started out with
such abundant fresh water, rich topsoil, open land, and favorable